I try to pamper myself as often as possible because I mean come on, one can only take the stress of med school for so long.
Taking some time out to give myself facials, manis and pedis etc. are very crucial. It is a great relaxing tool especially after long, long days at school and especially after a long week filled with quizzes, exams, and projects.
I'm no expert by any means because sometimes my manicures look like crap but hey what can you do?
How amazing does that blue look on my feet though? Comment and let me know what you like to do to relax, and what colors you like.
One of the greatest gift to being in school in the Caribbean is the the opportunity to visit other Caribbean islands. In life, we meet and get to know people who expose us to many great things and I must say I have made some amazing local friends who make this experience the more exciting and worthwhile.
I got the chance to visit the world famous St. Bart's a few weeks ago and it definitely lived up to its name and fame.
It is about a 30 to 40 minute boat ride from St. Maarten. They have a public ferry boat that goes between these two islands every 20 minutes I believe they said but of course my friends and I had the privilege of going on a private (its nice to know people).
We first pulled up to the famous
Colombier beach and hung out for a bit. Snorkeled, swam, and just goofed around until we got hungry.
We then had lunch at
La Plage Restaurant at Tom Beach Hotel and O.M.G. it was amazing.
We had a blast, played music for the whole beach from the boat, and truly enjoyed ourselves.
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| Acting like we see paparazzi |
It's safe to say our day trip to St. Barth was successful and beyond amazing! But seriously the overworked and overtired med student in me fell asleep and got the worse tan on my back smh!
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| We were definitely not feeling blue. |
Who else gets overly excited about the weekends? I know I do!
The thought of not having to sit in class for 8 hours, or worry about a whole lot (
noticed how I didn't say nothing/anything at all) is a good feeling.
I've deemed Sundays #SelfcareSundays. I like to relax, finish any cleaning I didn't get done Saturday evening, and just take care of me. This usually involves some kind of mani/pedi combo, a nice glass of fermented grape juice
(sounds more responsible that way haha), and a few episodes of whatever I need to catch up on.
Side note: My friends got me addicted to Game of Thrones and I managed to watch 6 seasons in a week, and yes that included me going to lectures, studying and everything else. SMH help needed but its so good though.
Anyways, about a year or so ago one of my friends gave me these bright almost neon nail polishes from
Charming Charlie and I had only used it once and never again.
Well I figured since summer is here why not? The neon orange (can't seem to remember what it is called and the label is faded) is literally the best color against my dark skin and I received so many amazing compliments on it.
Of course I had to go all out and do the whole pedicure experience with cuticle oil, pumice stone, base coat and all that.
Products Used:
If you follow me on Instagram and watch my insta stories (as you should), you already know I document my days in a form of "A day in the life of..."
Most days my day is off to such a hectic start that I forget to document it properly. So today I'm going to give a detailed account of what MOST of my days look like for this semester.
Alarm: 7:30am
- I usually wake up away before because since starting med school I've been waking up between 5:30 and 6am religiously so my internal body clock got very used to it.
- I have my morning devotion consists of these audio sermonettes that my mother sends me and rereading whatever Bible verse they used. They're usually between 5 to 10 minutes long
- Do a quick morning workout
- Clean out Ceasar's litter, put out his dry food and fresh bowl of cold water since I'm gone all day. Get him out of his carrier
Time check 8:30am
- Bathroom; brush my teeth, jump in the shower etc
- (If I have time), Make breakfast, usually just scrambled eggs and some fruit with yogurt
- Get dressed, do my make-up, and pack my bag.
Time check 9:40am (most days)
- Leave home by 9:45am, I live about a 5 minute drive from campus.
- Get to campus
- If I did not have time to make breakfast, I order breakfast from the food truck on campus
- Class starts at 10am and I'm in lectures until 12pm (we do get a 5-10 minute break on the hour for every class)
- All classes are done at 12 and break for an hour lunch
- If I had time in the morning, I usually pack my lunch. If not there are a few options
- Food truck on campus
- Grocery Store across from school
- Several restaurants on the island but keep in mind we only get an hour.
- Eat, and relax a bit with my friends. I do have meetings at lunch sometimes
- When and if I have meetings, I go to my meetings which start at 12 sharp and done by 12:20pm so I get the rest of the time to eat
- Back to class for another 2 hour lecture (Neuro on M,T,W) and (Biochem & Genetics Th, F)
- Then on M, W, Medical Psychology from 3pm to 5pm.
- Tuesdays Research in Health and Medicine from 3-5
- Thursdays and Fridays, I'm out of class by 3pm
- I get home around 5:15pm
- Unwind with an episode or two of whatever I need to catch up on, have a snack, then take an hour nap.
- I go over my planner to see if I have any reports, emails, or deadlines I need to meet
- I start studying soon after and study up until 11pm on most day
- Then get ready for bed
- Wash my face, shower, get ready for bed
- Check my social media and complete my insta story with my day wrap up template
That my dears concludes my day! Some days I do not strictly stick to my agenda, I try not to squeeze in things I did not plan for but things happen.
What are your days like? I would love to know so comment below.
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| Little Bay. Photo by J. Oliver |
Being on an island definitely has its perks! I mean think about it, I get a chance to go to school where most people pay lots of money to vacation 😱 (trust me, I never take it for granted!).
I've had the opportunity to try out a lot of new things I wouldn't otherwise DARE, and of course it helps having friends who are always so ready to go, and down for whatever. All you need to do is say the word.
One of my absolute favorite adventure since being here was my Sunday kayaking adventure.
Twas the weekend after block exams and we were all drained and glad to be stress and exam free. One of my girlfriends T had suggested getting lunch and going kayak at Crocus Bay, and of course with no hesitation I said yes! Mind you if my feet can't touch the bottom of the water I freak out, and I don't exactly swim but I swear I'm a mermaid (it's the adventure feen and daredevil in me guys 😩😂). So naturally I roped my tribe (D, and Jaz) into it and we made it a family affair.
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| T., myself, & D |
We grabbed sandwich makings from the grocery store and made our way to Crocus Bay. Got there, made our sandwiches, ate and got on our way.
The kayaks were not expensive at all. A single occupancy kayak was $10 and a double occupancy was $15. Since there was 7 of us, one of the guys had to go solo.
It was about a 15 minute or so ride from Crocus Bay to the beautiful little secluded beach of Little Bay, but let me tell you a lot happened in 15 minutes. D and I's kayak got attacked by a flying fish and a bird, we initially kept going in circles for a bit because neither one of us had kayaked before but we got the rhythm down.
It was so beautiful, serene and great day outside. T and the boys did the off the cliff jump into the water, Jaz and her boyfriend went snorkeling, D went swimming and I just stayed where my feet can touch the floor 😁😂. All in all it was an amazing day, totally worth the exhaustion I felt when I got home because I went straight to bed.
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| Glad she brought her Go-Pro |
Welcome everyone to my blog! As the name suggests, yes we will soon be hearing that name over the intercom at a hospital new you.
My name is Rubby, I am a nontraditional Caribbean med student. I am currently an MD 3 (equivalent to MS 2 back in the States). It has taken me awhile to get here but I finally decided to document my journey through med school to help people who are:
*contemplating going to med school
*interested in Caribbean schools
*need inspiration and motivation and so much more.
I will be very candid, and opened about the journey, my process, my success and my failures and everything in between. I will be talking about the beautiful island of Anguilla and all its amazing adventures, life lessons, and life's most precious gifts it's given me thus far.
So glad you joined me on this journey. If you're not already, make sure you follow me on
Instagram.
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact me.
